Why we revealed identity of girl in cops gang-rape saga

March 11, 2016 4:41 pm

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Following the capital FM News expose, Daisy has received support from all corners of the world/FRANCIS MBATHA

By JUDIE KABERIA, NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 11 – While hiding from her tormentors – men who should have protected her but instead stole all she had – her dignity – two police officers allegedly gang-raped and kidnapped her on several occasions.

Her time at the safe havens – what they call shelters or so she thought would shield her from a world which is so quick to judge and police officers who still wanted her dead – was up.

Her case had collapsed and the Witness Protection Agency’s mandate of protecting her had come to an end.

Eighteen years and epileptic with two children from rape, it was time for Daisy to go back to her home and face her enemies again.

The hospital beds had turned into death traps.

On one occasion, she was attacked right outside a hospital after being discharged.

When Capital FM News met Daisy last month, it was difficult to access her though she is the one who had invited us for an interview.

The people around her were very protective. First they pretended that they didn’t know her.

It is only after assurances with supporting evidence of how we knew about her case that they accepted she was with them.

They warned us against disclosing her whereabouts. They also told us that she was very sick and she was not in a position to talk.

But after proving to them that she indeed wanted to talk to us, they allowed us to proceed.

“The reason why I want to do this story is because the girl said she needs to talk about what she has been through. I want to help her. I am not interested in doing this story for the sake of doing a story. I want to do this story because I know if I report about it, we will know what she wants. She clearly wants someone to hear her story from the message I received,” I pleaded in an engagement that took more than one hour before we could talk to Daisy.

At the time, we did not have the proper details of what had exactly had transpired. All we knew is that she had been allegedly defiled by two Administration Police officers in 2012 at the age of 16 and she had been recently attacked.

As she lay on a hospital bed, the first thing we noticed was that she was very sick.

JUDIE KABERIA Judie, an Associate Editor has worked as a journalist in Kenya and Germany. She has a Master's Degree in New Media, Governance and Democracy, University of Leicester (U.K). She has scooped 10 journalistic awards. She has participated in international conferences in Germany, Switzerland, United States and Netherlands. Judie has written a booklet, 'Justice and Peace in the Kenyan Eye'. She has a soft spot for human rights, crime, peace and justice stories.